http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-11/tmsh-nsr111913.php#!After cardiac surgery, healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are common complications associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and use of resources. Study findings reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013 by investigators from the Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN), whose Data and Clinical Coordinating Center is at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, revealed the substantial economic impact of HAIs following cardiac surgery and the importance of preventing these infections leading to re-hospitalizations. In the new analysis, researchers examined data about the incremental costs associated with major HAIs within 65 days of cardiac surgery. Clinical data from 4,320 patients at nine academic medical centers was merged with related financial data routinely collected by the University Health Consortium in the United States. The most common cardiac surgery procedures undergone by these patients included valve surgery, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), and CABG/valve surgery. The data show during hospitalization, 2.7 percent of patients experienced major infections, such as pneumonia, sepsis, C. Difficile, and surgical site infectionsThe average cost due to treating major HAI infection was calculated as about $40,000, with increased costs from Intensive Care Unit stays being an important contributing factor. Also, patients with major HAIs were nearly twice as likely to be readmitted as those with non-HAIs. In the patient population studied, there were 74 readmissions, with 8.7 percent due to HAIs.

A new allergy risk to a common ingredient has been identified in a recent case study that has implications for vaccination. Gelatin, often found in lunchmeats, jellies, and gummy candies, is also used in vaccines, and allergy — though rare — can trigger anaphylaxis. An allergy to egg is no longer considered a risk of flu vaccination, but investigators presenting here at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI) 2013 Annual Scientific Meeting warned that gelatin allergy can be a problem.It is rare, and the first case reports were published in the mid-1900s, Stephanie Albin, MD, from the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai in New York, New York, told Medscape Medical News. However, it can present significant issues because many vaccines — and foods — contain gelatin. Gelatin is a mixture of peptides and proteins produced by partial hydrolysis of collagen extracted from cow, pig, and fish, she explained. Patients with gelatin allergy do not react to meat because gelatin is derived from tendons and bones rather than the flesh. And gelatin in vaccines is more likely to cause an allergic reaction because it is concentrated, purified, and processed and has direct access to the immune system through injection.vaccines that contain gelatin include those against influenza; measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR); varicella; yellow fever; zoster; rabies; Japanese encephalitis; and diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP).Source: American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI) 2013 Annual Scientific Meeting. Abstract P104. Presented November 9, 2013.